STRANGER

A post-apocalyptic YA that embraces all kinds of diversity -- the much-needed book for "the rest of us".

Decades ago, the United States underwent the Change—suddenly, all electricity was gone, and people developed unusual powers, society fell apart. People came together in small enclaves, fighting to create new cities in a world with no rules. Las Anclas, in what was once Southern California, is one of those cities.

When Ross, a teenage prospector, comes to town, he throws Las Anclass’s existing tensions into high relief, leading to shifting allegiances between those with special powers, and those who prefer “pure blood.” The Change is fast-paced, with a very cinematic/visual landscape, and lots of action -- and, best of all, it features a multiracial cast, with as many LGBTQ romances as heterosexual ones.

Stranger was written specifically for those teenagers who cannot find themselves in The Hunger Games, Divergent, Delirium, etc. It features multi-ethnic and mixed-race characters, as well as LGBTQ characters whose romances are as crucial to the plot as the heterosexual ones.

Sherwood Smith (www.sherwoodsmith.net) is the author of many fantasy novels for teenagers and adults. Her adult books include the “Inda” quartet (DAW); she is best known for the books Crown Duel and Court Duel (published by Firebird as Crown Duel).
Rachel Manija Brown (www.rachelmanijabrown.com) is the author of the memoir All the Fishes Come Home to Roost: An American Misfit in India, as well as the collection A Cup of Smoke. She has also written short stories, graphic novels, poetry, television, and plays. She is currently a graduate student at Antioch University, Los Angeles, in the MA program in clinical psychology.